


We Move Like the Ocean

by Vain_Intentions



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Gen, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mates, Pack Dynamics, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:47:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23048776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vain_Intentions/pseuds/Vain_Intentions
Summary: In which Stiles decides to attend college on the West Coast after a lifetime of living in a small coastal town back east. He just didn't expect that his decision would lead to so many near death experiences, having friends that bite, or stumbling upon midnight ritual sacrifices in the quad.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	We Move Like the Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> Just the prologue, Chapter 1 proper will be going up soon. Enjoy!

Noah and Claudia Stilinski moved from Beacon Hills to a small seaside town in Massachusetts when Stiles was only five years old. He was too young to have any strong memories of the small Californian city. Though for months after their move, he questioned them incessantly about when they were going home. Each time they would explain to him that this was their home now, and that there was no ‘going back’. His parents figured that he would eventually grow tired of asking the same question over, and they were right. Eventually Stiles stopped bringing up Beacon Hills all together after he started school and made some friends. 

One such friend was Theo, the little brother of Tara, an older teen who would occasionally babysit Stiles on weekdays until his parents came home from work. They were nicknamed the ‘havoc twins’ by their parents and would get into all sorts of trouble around town and in their neighborhood. Noah would receive frequent calls to the station from the locals reporting to having seen two boys fitting their descriptions disturbing the peace around town with various hijinks. From getting stuck in an empty water tower, to untying a docked boat, and taking it out to sea, to turning Noah’s office into a playroom; they were always up to something. 

When they were twelve, Theo’s sister died. Shortly after her funeral, Theo and his family moved away out west. The two boys had tried to remain in touch with one another, but like with most childhood friendships, they slowly drifted apart until Stiles eventually lost all contact with him. Although, whenever he would think about his childhood, he’d smile to himself remembering all the trouble he and Theo had gotten into.

When High School came around Stiles didn’t really have a best friend. He did have his lacrosse teammates, and occasionally after a game they would go to the local dinner for milkshakes and some greasy food, but he had no one to actually confide in, no one to hang out with one on one...until Heather moved to town. They were almost immediately inseparable, and they shared everything with each other; from their biggest fears to their current crushes. When senior year came they swore to each other that they’d apply to whichever schools were best for either of them. They were best friends, but they wouldn’t let that hold them back from chasing their dreams. Besides, no matter where they ended up they’d still always be close, and they knew that.

Stiles received his acceptance letter first. Monterey University in California. As soon as he read the words, “ _Congratulations!_ ”, he jumped off the bed, screaming for his parents. He practically fell down the stairs running to tell them the good news. It was the same college they had attended when they met each other, just a few hours away from their home town, Beacon Hills. When he first told them that he wanted to apply there, they were apprehensive, and pushed for him to explore other options. But Stiles wouldn't let the idea of attending their alma mater go, and in the end they supported his decision with the understanding he'd apply to other schools as well. They told him they were just concerned that he was following their path and not his own, but no matter what he chose to do they'd support him, like always.

Later after he'd told his parents about his acceptance, while laying in bed, the realization hit him. He was going to be leaving home in just _four_ months. He should feel nervous, right? Uneasy? Those were usually the proper reactions to life changing news. But no, he felt the opposite. Getting the acceptance letter had set his nerves on edge, and he was bursting with energy. For the first time in a long time he felt absolutely sure about something. There had always been a weight in his head, a sort of pull in the background of everything he did. He had never been able to properly identify what is was, and for a long time he'd assumed it was just his special brand of ADHD. But now lying in bed thinking about his future, the weight eased. For the first time years, he felt normal. Well, as normal as a hyperactive spastic teenage, such as himself, could be. He couldn’t explain it, but somehow he knew that everything was going to work out. He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

* * *

The next day, he texted Heather and told her to meet him at their favorite spot, the pier at the edge of town. As it turns out, Stiles had in fact _not_ been the first of the two to receive an acceptance letter. Heather had gotten hers two weeks ago and had decided to keep it to herself until Stiles received his too, so they could share their good news simultaneously. Stiles’ jaw went slack when she told him where she was heading off too in the fall.

“Northeastern?” He waved his arms excitedly in the air. “Hello! That’s amazing Heather, seriously! That’s like, one of the top schools in the country.” He crushed her into a hug. “Bet you’re glad I let you cheat off of my all those times in AP Stats and Bio, huh?” He let her go and nudged her in the side. “You probably would’ve been waitlisted without my help, let’s just admit that right now!”

She scoffed and pushed him away as they continued walking down the pier. “Oh shut up,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You’re acting like I didn’t help you with almost every single essay you’ve ever had to write.” She carefully stepped off the wooden planks and onto the warm rocks that were being lapped by the waves in the sun. “Great Expectations? Wuthering Heights? All the other classics that you refused to read?” She smirked at him. “You're the one who should be the one thanking me, Stilinski.” She moved to sit down on the rocks. He sat down beside her.

“Is is my fault if Dickens couldn’t write an interesting book to save his life? I don’t think so!”

“And the all other books?” She arched a brow.

“I was…focusing my attention elsewhere!”

She scoffed. “By ‘elsewhere’ do you mean illegally making copies of your dad’s case files and trying to solve them before he could?”

“If that were true, and I’m neither confirming nor denying that it is, I would tell you my hypothetical input would’ve been very valuable to the case and that I would’ve made good use of the anonymous tip line.” Heather rolled her eyes and nudged him.

“But let’s talk about you! Monterey? That’s all you’ve been able to talk about since junior year, finally going to tell me why you were so obsessed with getting in?”

“I don’t know, part of it is wanting the feel closer to my parents, I won’t lie. But the other part is…I just feel like it’s the right place for me. I’ve always wanted to go to school out west, MU has sentimental value, and not to mention a great Forensics program. It just makes sense.” He shrugged and moved to stretch out on the rocks, his hands beneath his head.

“If you say so…” She tilted her head up to feel the sun’s heat, and closed her eyes. Their brief silence was accompanied by the gentle sounds of waves splashing against the rocks and the distant sound of families on the beach.

“Our lives are about to completely change, you know that?” Heather asked, breaking the silence, looking over at him. “What are you feeling?”

“I don’t know…we’ve both known this was coming for a long time now. And we’ve both wanted to get out of this town and see more of the world. Personally, I’m ecstatic.”

“Yeah. I think I’m feeling the same way. But there’s also nervousness. We’re heading off towards ‘our futures’, but what if. What if it’s not everything we’re expecting it to be?”

“You’re thinking about it too hard. It’s the what-if’s that will get you, every time.”

“I’m just terrified that I’ve worked so hard for something that I won’t even want–, I’m rambling.” She sighed. “Just ignore me.”

“Yeah, rambling is usually my thing, not too sure it looks good on you.” She hit him hard in the ribs. “Uh, _ow_!?” Their laughter traveled across the water. “The future is frightening. But only because it’s just one big unknown. There’s only one thing for us to do to solve that unknown, and that’s to face it.”

“Well, we can try.”

“ _Do or do not. There is no try_.” Stiles responded in a strange voice. They got quiet again. “You still haven’t seen Star Wars have you?”

“…No.”

“Aw, _come on_ you promised!”

“Do I look like a nerd to you?”

“Oh don’t even start, you still have your goddamn Hogwarts House in your Twitter bio!”

“That is not the same thing and you know it!”

They stayed there arguing and laughing with each other as the sun sank into the horizon. 

* * *

Heather left for Boston almost immediately after graduation. She’d been selected for a summer program for incoming honors students and had to be on campus by mid-June. They’d had the longest goodbye ever. Stiles had driven past the airport at least three times before he finally dropped her and her luggage off. He crushed her in a hug and told her that if she needed any emotional support for anything, even if it was just getting up early enough to get a balanced breakfast, that he was only a FaceTime away. Then, in true movie fashion, they both cried and promised to see each other again for the holidays. Stiles waited until she was inside and he couldn’t make her out in the crowd anymore before finally leaving and heading for home.

He spent the rest of the summer after graduation getting ready for fall move-in. He’d be driving 3,000 miles across the country in Roscoe, the jeep his mother had gifted to him on his 16th birthday. Even though he loved that car with all his heart, he could admit that right now, it was nowhere near reliable enough to make that long of a trip. So he spent a lot of time and money getting his baby all tuned up and ready to go for August. During one of his last visits to the auto shop at the end of the summer he bumped into a former teammate Josh, who had gone off to college the previous year. Josh took the opportunity to give Stiles some unsolicited advice on how Freshman year was going to go and a list of the do's and don’ts. The advice included, but was not limited to: don’t wear your student I.D. around your neck, how frequently he should skip class (often), when he should attend on-campus parties (every weekend), a list of drinks that would get him drunk the quickest, and of course, where he could find the best girls to sleep with. The last one made Stiles laugh to himself as Josh was walking away. He’d known the guy for 3 years but Josh, and most of the lacrosse team, still didn’t know he was exclusively attracted to guys. It’s not like he was hiding the fact, it’s just that almost no one had bothered to ask. Apart from his parents and Heather, he could count on his hand the number of people in town that knew, and two of them were guys he'd fooled around with. 

When he wasn’t working on how he was going to get his jeep across the country, he was working on what he was going to bring with him. He didn’t want to bring too much because he had no idea how the room would be arranged, but he also didn’t want to pack so light that he’d have to spend money there buying things he already owned but had left behind. Eventually on the morning he was set to leave he'd settled on 5 boxes, 3 plastic bins, and 1 suitcase. It had been a tight fit for Roscoe but Stiles and his dad managed to get everything loaded before 8am. After his farewell breakfast, Stiles and his parents made their way to the drive-way. He knew that if they could have, they would’ve come with him for move-in day. But his father was the Sheriff now, his mother was a therapist, and they just couldn’t spring a two-week cross country vacation. 

“Stiles, my little żar, don’t forget this.” His mother handed him his old necklace, the one she had given him around his 10th birthday. “It will bring you luck, as it did when you were a child.” She put it around his neck. 

“Mom, I don’t want to wear this old thing,” She silenced him with a shush and a kiss on his cheek. 

“Give your mother some peace of mind for once, won’t you?” She smiled sweetly at him. He gave in and nodded, moving to hug her. When he let go, his dad pulled him aside and put his arm around his shoulder.

“Now, you behave yourself out there you hear me? Don’t go looking for trouble like you do here, you’re there to study, not to try to solve crimes.” Stiles opened his mouth. “And don’t you try to deny it.” He pulled his son in for a hug. “I can’t get you out of trouble from here, so you have to try, alright, for me?” He felt his son nodding against his shoulder.

Stiles gave a big sigh, then let his dad go. He promised to call them every night before stopping off at one of the motels they had pre-approved for the trip a few weeks ago. He felt his heart ache a bit saying goodbye but it wasn’t too sad. His parents had already made plans to come visit him in a few months for Parents’ Weekend and they’d promised to take Stiles around the city to show him all their favorite spots from their college days. 

The Stilinski family has one last group hug before Stiles hopped into his jeep, pulled out of the driveway and headed west. Every so often he would glance out his rear view mirror and when he’d do so, he’d see his hometown getting smaller and smaller, until eventually it disappeared from his sight all together. 


End file.
